------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 4 November 2000 Issue : 06/42 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Talks on water issue on 11th November + US wants Pakistan, India to begin talks + US paper echoes Pakistan dilemma on Afghanistan + New Air Chief designated + Sharifs counsel told to move SC + Islamabad asks UN to save Kashmiris + Pakistan on US list of drug-producing states + Kulsoom reads out Nawaz's message + PML, PPP agree to be tolerant + Direct election for Nazims, Dy Nazims + Mystery still shrouds mummy's origin + Shaukat says he is not resigning --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Pakistan will not default on debts + Staff report cleared by IMF + Traders' strike in Peshawar + Banks to give Rs4bn to NADRA + ECC to settle money row between two ministries + Pakistan, China agree to implement 40 projects + Hubco welcomes Kapco settlement + CE rejects private firm's royalty claim + Explore new markets, CE asks exporters + Tax notices being sent to Karachi residents + Misuse of tax officials power to be checked --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + Philistines Ardeshir Cowasjee + Surrealism across a bleak landscape Ayaz Amir + A discourse of the deaf Irfan Husain ----------- SPORTS + Match-fixing: CE to handle the matter, says Tarar + Pakistan defeat England by 6 wkts; Win one-day series
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NATIONAL NEWS
001104
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Talks on water issue on 11th November
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Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: The federal government has called a meeting of
the provincial representatives on Nov 11 for the equal
redistribution of irrigation water shortage for Rabi-2000.
The meeting will review the expected 33 per cent irrigation water
shortage and reallocate the water share to the NWFP, Balochistan
and Punjab on the basis of Water Accord 1991, instead of the
existing practice of historical use.
Official sources told Dawn on Friday that the chief executive had
desired a meeting of the Indus River System Authority represented
by the provinces so that the water could be redistributed in the
light of Sindh government's demand.
The Sindh government had objected to the IRSA's last year's
decision to distribute water shortage between Punjab and Sindh,
under historical use. It demanded that the NWFP and Balochistan
should also share the water shortage under the Water Accord-1991.
The CE agreed to Sindh's version and had asked for equal
distribution of water shortage to address the province's complaint.
Sources said the federal government had asked IRSA to hold a
meeting on Nov 4, which will now be held on Nov 11, for the
provinces to send their views on law division's comments on water
shortage, advising the IRSA to refer the Sindh government demand to
the Council of Common Interest (CCI) which was the competent forum
to decide such high-level issues of water distribution.
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001102
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US wants Pakistan, India to begin talks
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WASHINGTON, Nov 1: The United States would like India and Pakistan
to engage in bilateral discussions on security issue, John Holum,
undersecretary of state for international security and arms control
said in an interview here.
The text of the exchanges was released by the State Department
Tuesday.
Asked what short-term nonproliferation measures the US wanted India
and Pakistan to adopt to bring more stability to South Asia and
what prospects were there for achieving them, Holum replied, "There
are a few steps: CTBT signature and ratification, cessation of the
production of fissile materials and support for Fissile Material
Cut-off Treaty negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament,
restraining nuclear and missile developments, and adoption of
strict export controls.
"We would also like to see India and Pakistan engage in bilateral
discussions on security issues."
He went on to say, We want to prevent the situation from getting
any worse. Unfortunately, we haven't made any great headway in any
of those areas. -APP
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001102
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US paper echoes Pakistan dilemma on Afghanistan
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By Tahir Mirza
WASHINGTON, Nov 1: Pakistan's Afghanistan dilemma is reflected in a
report published here on Wednesday in the wake of a widening
conflict within Afghanistan itself and growing concern that the
United States may be preparing to hit Afghanistan in retaliation
for the bombing of the USS Cole.
Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar has warned that Pakistan will not
let its air space be used for any US attack on Afghanistan, a stand
reiterated on Monday by a foreign ministry spokesman in Islamabad
who said any such strike would only aggravate matters and would
'resolve nothing'.
The fears have been precipitated by suspicions that the Cole
incident may be linked to Osama bin Laden or his organization. The
US had launched a missile hit against alleged Osama bases in 1998
following the bombings of two American embassies in east Africa.
In a report filed from Peshawar in Wednesday's Washington Post, the
paper's correspondent, Pamela Constable, says Chief Executive
General Pervez Musharraf has resisted US and Russian requests to
prod the Taliban into turning over Osama for prosecution. The
correspondent quotes Pakistani analysts as saying 'competing
domestic and foreign pressures have paralyzed Musharraf over
Afghanistan. Musharraf needs the support of the United States to
obtain badly needed Western loans and investment, and he does not
want to antagonize Russia and Iran', which support Ahmad Shah
Masood's Northern Alliance.
At the same time, the report asserts, Pakistan does not want to
confront the Taliban, 'in part because of its close links with
Pakistani religious groups that supply fighters and weapons for the
guerrilla war against Indian troops in the disputed region of
Kashmir. Influential sectors of the religious and military
establishment also support the Taliban's brand of Islam '
The PML leader, Raja Zafarul Haq, told the Washington Post
correspondent: 'Pakistan's relationship with the Taliban is very
delicate.'
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001103
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New Air Chief designated
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Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 2: Air Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir has been designated as
the next Chief of the Air Staff.
According to a press release issued by the PAF directorate of
public relations here on Thursday, Air Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir will
take over the command of the PAF from Air Chief Marshal Parvaiz
Mehdi Qureshi on Nov 20.
Born on March 5, 1947, Air Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir completed his
initial education from the Government College in Lahore and was
commissioned in the General Duties (Pilot) Branch of the PAF in Jan
1967.
Apart from serving as a fighter pilot in various squadrons of the
PAF, he qualified flying instructors' and combat commanders'
courses. His career includes command of a fighter squadron, a
fighter wing, an operational base and a regional air command of the
PAF.
He has also held prestigious staff appointments, such as director
operations, chief project director, project falcon, assistant chief
of air staff (plans) and chief project director, project green
flash.
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001104
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Sharifs counsel told to move SC
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Nov 3: The government's failure to ensure law and order
cannot be used as a pretext for shifting judicial proceedings to
remote areas to the prejudice of the rights of the accused, Sharif
family counsel argued before Chief Justice Falak Sher of the Lahore
High Court on Friday.
The CJ heard the arguments of Barristers Saleem Sahgal and Ashtar
Ausaf Ali against holding of accountability trials in Attock Fort
from 9am to 3:30pm with breaks for tea and Friday prayers. Advocate
Abdus Sattar Najam will make submissions on behalf of former PPP
senator Asif Ali Zardari on Monday followed by NAB Deputy
Prosecutor-General Naveed Rasul Mirza's rebuttal.
The CJ told the lawyers that he was not adjudicating vires of the
National Accountability Bureau Ordinance nor the merits of the
references sought to be transferred. He was concerned with the
legality of cases' transfer to and from Attock and they should
confine their arguments to this matter. If they wanted him to stay
the proceedings, they should approach the LHC full bench hearing
petitions against NAB orders or the Supreme Court, which has
admitted petitions challenging the ordinance.
The lawyers submitted that the NAB chairman's power to assign cases
to accountability courts was too wide and unbridled to facilitate
fair trials. The manner of its exercise by him has further vitiated
the proceedings. The NAB chief addressed a communication directly
to the LHC registrar for a general transfer of cases without
specifying references. Even the NAB prosecutor-general was not
taken into confidence and it was only when the CJ decided to take
up the matter on judicial side that he was inducted in the
proceedings.
The NAB chief, the lawyers submitted, gave no reasons for transfer
of cases and it was the prosecutor-general who pressed security
reasons but he too only expressed apprehensions. The apprehensions
are belied by record. Sharif family members regularly appear in the
Ittefaq Foundries reference before a Lahore accountability court
but no untoward incident has been reported so far. Neither the
accused nor their counsel nor prosecutors nor the accountability
judges hearing cases in Lahore have reported any threat to their
life or limb.
Even if there are genuine security reasons, it is for the presiding
officers (accountability judges) to pass an order and hold a trial
in jail. Z A Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto were tried in Lahore and
Nawaz Sharif was tried in Karachi without risking breach of peace.
It is for the judge concerned to seek shifting of a trial. If
prosecutors are allowed to choose trial venues, they will choose
places where defence may become well nigh impossible and this is
exactly what has happened in the cases being tried in Attock Fort.
Right of access to justice is a fundamental right and trials at
Attock impinge on this right, they said.
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001103
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Islamabad asks UN to save Kashmiris
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Correspondent
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 2: Pakistan on Wednesday told the UN General
Assembly that the Indian repression in occupied Kashmir has
"crossed all bounds of civilized behaviour" and asked the world
body to intervene to save the lives of innocent Kashmiris.
Speaking on the "Question of Human Rights" Pakistan's Ambassador
Shamshad Ahmad said that "the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who are
struggling for their inalienable right to self-determination, as
mandated by numerous UN Security Council resolutions, are being
subjected to brutal repression by 700,000 strong Indian occupation
forces."
"Everyday dozens of Kashmiri youth are killed in cold blood. Fake
encounters, midnight searches, rape, abductions, torture, custodial
disappearances, summary and extra-judicial killings, humiliation
and arbitrary detentions have become routine occurrences in the
occupied state. Indian occupation forces have also created
mercenaries cadres known as "renegade militants" to teach Kashmiris
a lesson."
Ahmad pointed out that "the Indian atrocities in Kashmir are well
documented by international human rights organizations. Last year,
Asia Watch in its report "India: Behind the Kashmir Conflict" had
urged the UN General Assembly to condemn abuses by Indian security
forces in Kashmir and ask India to permit relevant UN working
groups and Special Rapporteur to visit Kashmir. It also called upon
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Kashmir and
submit findings of her investigations on human rights abuses to the
Security Council and the General Assembly.
The Amnesty International in its latest report for 1999, has
observed: "Reports of disappearances" were received from Kashmir
... Attempts by relatives in Jammu and Kashmir to establish the
fate of individuals continued to be obstructed by the state, the
security forces and an inadequate legal system. No substantive
response was received from the government to an AI report on
"disappearances" ... which referred to between 7000-8000 people
whose fate remained unknown."
Referring to the case of massacre of Sikhs last year Ahmad said
"the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance in para 30 of his
report (A/55/280) has referred to massacre of Sikhs in occupied
Kashmir coinciding with the visit of the US President to India in
March this year. Independent evidence suggests that this gruesome
crime was committed by renegade elements on behest of Indian
intelligence agencies. I would like to quote from a well researched
article entitled "Death in Kashmir" written by a respected Indian
scholar Mr Pankaj Mishra in the New York Review of Books on 21
September 2000. Mr Pankaj Mishra writes:
"The Indian failure to identify or arrest even a single person
connected to the killings or the killers, and the hastiness and
brutality of the Indian attempt to stick the blame on "foreign
mercenaries" while Clinton was still in India, only lends weight to
the new and growing suspicion among Sikhs that the massacre in
Chittisinghpura was organized by Indian intelligence agencies in
order to influence Clinton, and the large contingent of influential
American journalists accompanying him, into taking a much more
sympathetic view of India as a helpless victim of terrorists in
Pakistan and Afghanistan: a view of India that some very hectic
Indian diplomacy in the West had previously failed to achieve."
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001103
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Pakistan on US list of drug-producing states
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Tahir Mirza
WASHINGTON, Nov 2: Pakistan and India are among states mentioned by
President Bill Clinton in his annual report on major illicit drug-
producing or drug-transit countries sent to Congress on Wednesday.
Heading the list is Afghanistan, followed by the Bahamas, Bolivia,
Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.
In a letter sent to the leadership of four congressional
committees, the president says he has removed Hong Kong and Taiwan
from the list of major drug-producing or transit countries, but
added them to the list of countries and regions "of concern".
The president said: "I wish to make clear that a country's presence
on the list of major drug-transit countries is not necessarily an
adverse reflection on its counter-drug efforts or on the level of
its cooperation with the United States. Among the reasons that
major drug-transit countries are placed on the list is the
combination of geographical, commercial, and economic factors that
allow drugs to transit through a country, in many cases despite the
most assiduous enforcement measures."
The president also expressed concern over the rising imports of
foreign-origin, illegal synthetic drugs into the United States,
especially MDMA ("Ecstasy"), from Europe. "We are still collecting
information on this problem, and it is a trend that bears watching
closely in future years."
Explaining his decision to remove Hong Kong from the list,
President Clinton said seizure rates in both the United States and
Hong Kong suggest that trafficking organizations are no longer
using Hong Kong as a transit point for US-destined heroin. Since
1996, there have been no significant seizures in the United States
of heroin linked with Hong Kong. Similarly, the Hong Kong
authorities report that in the past two years they have made no
large seizures locally of heroin destined for the US.
On Iran, President Clinton's letter\report says while Iran was once
a traditional opium-producing country, the government there appears
to have been successful in eradicating significant illicit opium,
poppy cultivation. The latest US survey of the country revealed no
detectable poppy cultivation in the traditional growing areas.
Although one cannot rule out some cultivation in remote parts of
the country, it is unlikely that it would be sufficient to meet the
threshold definition of a major illicit drug producing country
under section 481(e)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act, the
president said.
He added: "Important quantities of opiates reportedly continue to
transit Iran en route to Europe, but I have no evidence that these
drugs significantly affect the United States, a requirement for
designation as a major drug-transit country under section 481(e)(5)
of the Foreign Assistance Act. Moreover, Iran has taken extensive
measures to thwart the use of its territory by drug traffickers,
seizing well above 200 metric tons of drugs annually in recent
years."
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001102
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Kulsoom reads out Nawaz's message
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Reporter
LAHORE, Nov 1: Mian Nawaz Sharif has warned that as a prisoner he
can be more dangerous for the rulers than as a free man. He thinks
that those in power are not aware of the reality.
The deposed prime minister said this in a message his wife Kulsoom
read out to reporters at her Model Town residence here on
Wednesday.
She had met Mr Sharif in Attock Fort on Tuesday and had sought his
instructions for the party.
While some PML leaders are opposed to the efforts being made for an
alliance with the GDA, Mr Sharif insists that cooperation between
the two major political parties of the country is imperative for
the restoration of democracy.
He said there was a dire need for an end to political confrontation
and introducing a new political culture in society.
Both the major parties and the other GDA components, Mr Sharif
said, should work out a national agenda for the future and give the
nation an undertaking that in case of revival of democracy as a
result of their joint struggle, they would shun intolerance,
victimization, mud slinging and dictatorial tendencies witnessed in
the past.
Also, he said, political parties should assure the nation that in
future no political party would become a part to any conspiracy
against any elected institution.
The PML president said political parties should pledge to work for
the promotion of national integrity.
In the future, he said, there should be a working relationship
between the government and the opposition.
Meanwhile, PML secretary-general Saranjaam Khan said that he would
set a date for the CWC meeting during the next few days.
The meeting is being called under instructions from the party
president.
Mr Khan said he would hold consultations with all relevant party
leaders before fixing the date.
The meeting, he said, would discuss the political situation in the
country and the need for an alliance between the PML and the GDA.
Mr Khan said a workers' convention would also be held by the end of
the month. A date for it would also be decided by the party's CWC.
In a related development, the PML Labour Wing strongly opposed the
efforts being made for alliance between the PML and the GDA. The
wing's central president Faqir Husain Bukhari said at a news
conference that the PPP was the major component of the GDA with
which the PML had, has and would continue to have ideological
differences.
Having branded the PPP leadership as traitor and anti-state, Mr
Bukhari said, there was no justification for the PML leadership to
join hands with its adversaries for their personal interests.
"The PML workers will not allow anyone to turn the party into
People's League nor accept alliance with the anti-state elements
and thieves."
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001031
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PML, PPP agree to be tolerant
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Faraz Hashmi
ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan
Muslim League (PML) have agreed on a code
of conduct which includes a clause that if any one of them got
voted to power the other would not destabilize the government and
would sit on the opposition benches till next elections.
"There is a dire need for such a code of conduct for democracy to
take roots in the country," Syed Zafar Ali Shah, a key player in
the efforts being made to bring the two major parties on a
platform, told Dawn on Monday.
"It will be a unique alliance in the political history of the
country," he said, adding that Begum Kulsoom Nawaz will present the
code, along with a report of the recent talks with GDA leaders, to
party President Nawaz Sharif, in a day or two.
"It is very unfortunate that the members of the two main political
parties start tearing each other's clothes after elections," he
added.
Shah said, "mudslinging and leg-pulling provides an excuse for the
military to step in and disrupt the democratic system."
He said an elected government had every right to complete its term
of five years. However, Shah did not comment on the question of
rigging.
He said it has also been proposed that the next general elections
should be held under a government of national consensus, with
representatives from all the political parties.
After the president's approval the proposal would be presented to
the central working committee of the party for endorsement.
The CWC meeting would be convened before November 15, when GDA is
expected to meet to finalize modalities to include PML in a grand
alliance, whose name is yet to be proposed.
In a statement, PML media secretary Mian Anwar-ul-Haq Ramay said
that the high-level meeting with GDA was in fact declaration of
jehad against dictatorship and military rule, which had brought the
country to the verge of breakup.
Ramay announced that a meeting of its CWC and parliamentary party
would be convened shortly to take both the forums into confidence
about its dialogue with the GDA for restoration of democracy.
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001030
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Direct election for Nazims, Dy Nazims
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Oct 29: The government has decided that Nazims and
Deputy Nazims at Union Council level should be elected directly by
the people instead of being elected by the members.
However, the Nazims and Deputy Nazims for other tiers of the local
bodies institutions, elections for which would be held in July
2001, would be elected indirectly.
The major change in the devolution plan was announced today by the
Chairman of the National Reconstruction Bureau Chairman, Lt-Gen
(retd) Syed Tanwir Naqvi, through a press release.
Earlier it was announced that Nazims and Deputy Nazims at all
levels of the local bodies institutions would be elected by the
members of the respective local bodies institution.
The press release said that the Nazims and Naib Nazims for the
Union Councils would though be elected directly but as joint
candidates.
The press release said that the decision to change the election
procedure for electing Nazim and Deputy Nazim has been taken by
Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf.
"Respecting the desire of the masses, the government has decided to
hold elections of Nazims and Naib Nazims of the Union Councils
along with the elections of the 19 Union Councillors of each Union
Council," the press release said.
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001029
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Mystery still shrouds mummy's origin
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Reporter
KARACHI, Oct 28: Three international institutions of archaeological
studies have expressed their willingness to help Pakistani experts
in the investigations on the mummified body of a princess.
These institutions are Manchester Museum, UK; Victoria Museum,
Australia; and Nebraska University, US, sources in the National
Museum of Pakistan where the mummified body has been kept under
intense security.
The mummy was produced before newsmen a couple of days ago.
Information gathered at the museum also showed that the Manchester
Museum has the largest collection of research on mummies. The other
institutions also have useful information on the subject, which
could come handy in carrying out investigations on the mummified
body.
Besides, the Lahore Museum has informed the museum authorities in
Karachi that there was a Lahore-based person who could decipher the
script written on the sarcophagus.
Once the script is properly deciphered, the mystery shrou-ding the
origin of the mummified body is expected to be solved.
It has also been learnt that the mummified body is expected to be
put on display for public viewing some time next month.
At present, the mummy is under observation and the experts are
examining whether any biological or environmental degradation has
taken place on the body which has weathered about 2,600 years.
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001104
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Shaukat says he is not resigning
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday
repudiated reports that he had resigned and said some people were
out to derail the new IMF programme for Pakistan.
"Nobody is indispensable but my efforts to get certain new IMF
programme for Pakistan are perhaps not going well with the vested
interest," he told Dawn.
Mr Aziz stated that he had not resigned nor had any intention to do
so and that he would keep working for improving the economy against
all odds.
In reply to a question, he said the Letter of Intent had been
delayed due to the absence of the IMF's managing director and
deputy MD from Washington. "But let me assure you that it is on the
way."
The finance minister further said that an understanding had been
reached with the IMF on various issues to get its aid programme
resumed shortly.
He said that differences with Hubco were being narrowed on tariff
and administrative issues, adding that the recent agreement with
the Kot Addu power company would lead to the settlement of the
Hubco dispute.
=================================================================== BUSINESS & ECONOMY 001101 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan will not default on debts ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hasan Akhtar ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: Pakistan is determined not to default on its foreign loans, the Foreign Office spokesman told a news briefing on Tuesday. In reply to a question how would Islamabad cope with the possible "state of isolation" if a default led to adverse foreign reaction and containment of international relations, spokesman Riaz A. Khan said he regarded the allusion to Pakistan's possible isolation as "speculative" and contrary to his assertion that it would not default. He said military skirmishes on the Pakistan-India border and along the Line of Control solved nothing and instead they aggravated the already tense situation. Pakistan, he said, was maintaining close vigilance to deter any aggressive designs from the Indian side and hoped that New Delhi would lower the military tension. Indian military exercises close to the Pakistan border were being kept under observation, he said and added that field commanders on both sides could use hot-line to defuse tension. The spokesman regretted that India had missed an opportunity for dialogue and peace process by imposing preconditions to the July 24 ceasefire offered by one of the Kashmiri freedom groups. The Indian demand that peace talks should be held under the framework of the Indian constitution was tantamount to asking the Kashmiris to renounce their half-a-century-old struggle. New Delhi, he believed, had sought to create divisions within the Kashmiris' freedom movement and in its relations with Pakistan by proposing the pre-condition. India, he pointed out, had earlier proposed that talks could be held in the interest of Insaniyat, but later it changed its stance. Replying to another question, the spokesman said Pakistan strictly scrutinized arms purchase requests from foreign countries to ensure that they conformed to international conventions and were for self- defence by the friendly buyers. Pakistan's entry in the arms market was perfectly legitimate, he said, adding that Islamabad had entered the legitimate world market for sale of military equipment of its own making. He told a questioner that Pakistan had no reservations on the proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan. The chief executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, would lead the Pakistan delegation to the Doha OIC Summit which would be held from Nov 12 to 14, with the Palestine issue in focus of its deliberations. Agencies add: Pakistan said that any resort to "violence" by the United States in its row with Afghanistan over Osama bin Laden would be futile. "Any initiation of violence would only complicate the matter and aggravate the situation. It will resolve nothing," the FO spokesman said. Dismissing as "speculation" fears of imminent US strikes against Afghanistan, he said: "We think such violence must not take place. In reply to a question if there was any move to oust Pakistan from NAM, which was scheduled to meet in Dhaka by the end of next year, he said it was false. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001104 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff report cleared by IMF ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: Finance Secretary Younus Khan said on Friday that the IMF had cleared the staff report on Pakistan recommending resumption of assistance. "We have been informed that the IMF has cleared and approved the staff report on Pakistan which will now come to us any time, today or tomorrow." Talking to Dawn, Mr Khan pointed out that once the staff report was received, it would be sent back to Washington with a covering letter that is called Letter of Intent (LoI). "This LoI is a kind of memorandum and not any agreement needing to be signed between the two sides," he explained. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001104 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Traders' strike in Peshawar ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohammed Riaz PESHAWAR, Nov 3: The city traders observed a complete shutdown on Friday and about 12 shopkeepers were arrested after a hide-and-seek with the police who used tear gas shells to disperse them at Chowk Yadgar, Pipal Mandi and in other localities. Haleem Jan, a top leader of the traders, who had gone into hiding after police raids on his residence on Thursday night, told Dawn by telephone that a complete shutdown would be observed throughout the province on Saturday. The police had also raided the residence of Shaukatullah Hamdard thrice, he said. He stated that their protest would continue till the release of all shopkeepers and their leaders and added that the traders at a meeting on Thursday night had nominated Haji Afzal as acting chairman of the Tajir Ittehad. Traders, said Mr Jan, were ready to cooperate with the government but the "corrupt" officials of the CBR and some black sheep in the civil bureaucracy were out to sabotage the government-trader talks. He said they had held a fruitful meeting with chief executive on Oct 27 at which the CE had constituted a two-member committee comprising Tariq Pervez and Saleem Altaf to hold the next meeting with traders on Nov 7. But the CBR officials in connivance with the administration tried to sabotage the proposed meeting by arresting traders, he added. He said the shopkeepers and their leaders had nothing to do with the Thursday's incident in which some miscreants had attacked an army jeep. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001102 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Banks to give Rs4bn to NADRA ------------------------------------------------------------------- Faraz Hashmi ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: National Database and Registration Authority on Wednesday signed an agreement with 11 banks and finance development institutions for provision of Rs4 billion to the authority. Nadra chairman Zahid Ihsan and representatives of the respective banks and DFIs singed an agreement here at a ceremony held at Nadra headquarters. The amount has been arranged by Askari Commercial Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, who are acting as financial advisers and arrangers for the funding of Rs4 billion in a period of five years on behalf of Nadra. The banks and DFIs which signed the agreement include National Bank, Bank Alfalah, Faysal Bank, Pak Libya Holding Co, Union Bank, Soneri Bank, Employees Old Age Benefit Institution, Bank of Khyber, Askari Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Islamic Investment Bank. The funding will be extended by banks / financial institutions in two phases. Total funding is Rs4 billion and to be extended to the period of five years. National Bank will contribute Rs1,000 million, Bank Alfalah Rs300 million, Faysal Bank Rs200 million, Pak Libya Holding Co Rs200 million, Union Bank Rs200 million, Soneri Bank Rs200 million, Employees Old Age Benefit Institution Rs500 million, Bank of Khyber Rs100 million, Islamic Investment Bank Rs150 million, Standard Chartered Bank Rs200 million and Askari Commercial Bank will provide a sum of Rs950 million. Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Ihsan thanked the financial institutions and added that this manifested their confidence in the ongoing projects of the authority. Earlier the executives of banks and DFIs were received by chairman of Nadra. They were later conducted to different parts of the facility and taken to different departments of the Nadra, where they witnessed various activities. The chiefs of banks and DFIs lauded Nadra's effort to establish a complete database. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001102 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ECC to settle money row between two ministries ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: The Economic Coordination Committee will decide at its next meeting whether the agriculture ministry should pay Rs9.65 million to the commerce ministry for using the Cotton Export Corporation's godowns. The matter was referred to the ECC after the two ministries failed to reach a settlement. The commerce ministry claims that the fertilizer import department in Karachi has been utilizing the cotton export corporation's storage facilities since January 1999 without paying the rent, which, till August 2000, accumulated to Rs9.65 million. The commerce ministry said that the cotton export corporation, being a self-financed autonomous body, was facing financial crisis and needed the amount immediately. The agriculture ministry says it is not in a position to pay such a huge amount to a government agency and is asking the Economic Coordination Committee to get the money waived off. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001102 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan, China agree to implement 40 projects ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Nov 1 : Under the 15th S&T Cooperation Protocol signed on Wednesday, Pakistan and China agreed to implement 40 projects in the field of biotechnology, agricultural sciences, standards and quality control, fisheries, water resources etc. The protocol was signed in a meeting of Pakistan-China Joint Ministerial Committee on S&T Co-operation, a press release said. The Pakistan delegation was led by Secretary Science and Technology Division, Javed Masud. The Chinese side was led by Mr Yuan Shunguang, director general, international relations, ministry of science and technology. Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Lu Shulin was also present on the occasion. Talking to the delegation, Javed Masud informed the delegation that Minister for Science and Technology Prof Atta-ur-Rahman had suggested that Pakistan and China should establish a joint revolving fund on the pattern of Pak-Kazakhstan co-operation. Javed requested China to help Pakistan in minimising post harvest problems, preparation of vaccines, production of low energy consuming bulks and renewable energy sector. A number of big projects, built with the help of China, in Pakistan included Heavy Mechanical Complex, Heavy Electrical Complex, Heavy Rebuild Factory and Chashma Nuclear Power Plant. Javed said due to financial difficulties, some research projects included in the 14th Protocol could not be implemented. Some 280 projects of economic importance are undergoing a process of peer review at the moment and the S&T Division intends to launch about 30-40 commercially viable projects in the near future. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001102 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hubco welcomes Kapco settlement ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: The Hub Power Company (Hubco) and Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) are fundamentally different Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and as such require different formulas for their settlement, a spokesman of Hubco claimed here on Wednesday. He, however, said Hubco was hopeful that the Kapco settlement would provide momentum for a resolution to the Hubco dispute. In a statement, he said now there appeared a political will at the highest level to resolve the outstanding IPP issues. He explained that the Kapco agreement is essentially an acceptance by International Power (formally National Power) of the Wapda and Pakistan government position. In accepting the terms of the Wapda settlement, International Power has chosen to give up management control, the operations and management contract, the technical services agreement and the guaranteed future dividends revenue, in order to secure the original value of their investment in their accounts. "With the settlement, International Power has chosen to move from being a strategic investor to a passive investor, and Kapco essentially becomes an asset of the State". The Hubco spokesman noted that issue of 'shareholder' is a key point of differentiation between the two IPPs. He noted that in the case of Kapco, there are only two shareholders. In the case of Hubco, no one shareholder has the authority to transact a deal with Wapda. Moreover, each shareholder represented on the Negotiating Committee has a fiduciary duty to safeguard the interests of all shareholders with respect to future rate of returns over the 27- year life of the project. The spokesman noted that Hubco's long-held position is that any deal must be sustainable over the 27-year life of the project. Sustainability for Hubco is defined by two elements (i) acceptance by the government and Wapda of certain fundamental principles of international commercial law to guide the future implementation of the contract; and (2) an acceptable rate of return to the company 's 17,000 shareholders. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001101 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CE rejects private firm's royalty claim ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: The chief executive has rejected a request of the ministry of food and agriculture for refund of $136,543 overpayment of royalty claimed by a private company. After receiving the directive from the Chief Executive Secretariat, the food ministry informed M/s MEFT of the rejection of its eight- year-old claim, terming it illegitimate. M/s MEFT had claimed refund of what it called overpayment of royalty it said it had paid to the Marine Fisheries Department (MFD), Karachi, during 1992 at a rate of three per cent of free on board (FOB) value of fish catch. The prices of the fish were determined on six-month basis by the price fixation committee of the MFD. The royalty for the fish transshipment during the period from March to August 1992 was charged according to new prices fixed by the committee instead of old prices fixed for Sept 1998- Feb 1992. The royalty was charged accordingly from all the firms including MEFT. The MEFT, however, later claimed that it had overpaid the royalty amounting to $136,543. The claim was considered at least four times by the ministry and it was found to be "unfounded". However, after some months the same ministry, under strange circumstances, accepted the demand despite severe opposition from the Fisheries Department commissioner. After months of deliberations, the CE Secretariat wrote a letter to the food ministry on Oct 7. The letter signed by Brigadier Tariq Hamid Khan, said that the law division had opined that the claim of MEFT being seven-year-old could not be entertained at this stage and that even on merit the company had no justification to claim the refund. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001031 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Explore new markets, CE asks exporters ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent GUJRANWALA, Oct 30: Chief Executive Gen Pervaiz Musharraf on Monday asked exporters to explore new markets, specially in Middle East and Africa, to strengthen the national economy. The CE visited a local industrial unit making home appliances. He said the government was taking solid steps to promote exports and resolve problems being faced by the business community. According to APP, Musharraf said markets of Central Asia and Africa were still untapped and the Pakistani exporters stood good chance of earning precious foreign exchange for the country by exploring these areas. Unit owner Haji Muhammad Yousaf announced a donation of Rs 5 million for the promotion of information technology in Gujranwala provided the administration earmarked a suitable piece of land for the project. Gen Musharraf advised the Punjab governor who was also present on the occasion to acquire land for the construction of an information technology institute. Earlier, the chief executive inaugurated the Dogranwala- Papnakhah link road, some 20 kilometres north-west of Gujranwala. The six-kilometres long road being constructed at a cost of Rs 5.5 million would provide a link to the area with a population of 20,000 to the districts of Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin. About 200 persons have been employed for the project being carried out under Integrated Rural and Urban Development Programme for the alleviation of poverty. The chief executive was also briefed on the development projects in the Gujranwala district on this occasion. ARMED FORCES: The chief executive addressed officers of Gujranwala Garrison and said the armed forces were a symbol of unity, harmony and cohesion in the country. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001030 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tax notices being sent to Karachi residents ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Oct 29: The Income Tax authorities in Karachi have started distributing the tax registration notices to 10,700 residents of the posh localities asking them to explain why they are still not registered as taxpayers. They are also required to mention the income tax circle and zone of registration in case any of them is already on the tax books. The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has discovered through the Tax Survey forms that these high-income people are not registered with the Income Tax department despite the fact that they enjoy taxable incomes. Recipients of these notices would have to return the duly-filled notice within 14 days of receipt. Karachi would be the first city where such notices are being distributed among the residents of posh localities. The Income Tax Department intends to distribute such notices in Lahore in the first week of November. Another 15000 notices are also being distributed in Karachi among the high-income people who own expensive houses but have stated annual incomes below Rs300,000. The income level declared through tax survey forms by people enjoying high financial status is unacceptable, say CBR officials. "We cannot expect people living in houses valuing Rs5-10 million and above to be enjoying incomes less than Rs300,000 a year," the officials added. In all, the Income Tax Department plans to send 53,000 notices to residents of posh areas in 13 major cities who own large houses, more than two motor cars, and those who have been found concealing income through the tax survey forms. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001029 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Misuse of tax officials power to be checked ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Our Correspondent RAWALPINDI, Oct 28: Chairman Central Board of Revenue (CBR) Riaz Hussain Naqvi has said that the government is all set to check misuse of discretionary powers against taxpayers by the tax collectors, as it has developed a new computerized monitoring system. He made this observation during his meeting with the President of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Raja Tariq Kiyani on Saturday. The RCCI's Senior Vice President Dr Muhammad Amjad, Mian Pervaiz Aslam, Najamulhaq Malik and Najam Rehan also participated in the meeting. The CBR chairman said that in order to check the corruption of tax collectors, changes had been made in Self Assessment Scheme and the government had also devised a system in which the contact between taxpayers and tax collectors would be minimal. He informed that the information submitted by the common man in tax survey form would be computerized along with the complete record of utility bills and the CBR would compare the expenses and the income of a person and tax would be collected from those, who had provided incorrect information. The CBR chief said that still there were no such orders issued for the abolition of turnover tax. However, the government was considering to withdraw Turnover Tax on small traders. He said that although the government was keen to develop tax culture, the date for filing of tax returns would not be extended. Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Kiyani said that the businessmen were willing to pay their due taxes but they were scared by the blackmailing of tax authorities.Back to the top
=================================================================== EDITORIALS & FEATURES 001029 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Philistines ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardeshir Cowasjee THERE may be hope. The quality and type of municipal administrators and mayors we have had of late in Pakistan, during the eleven years of democratic government, the freely and fairly elected lot, are somewhat comparable in their ignorance of history to the present Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. Livingstone was born in Lambeth in 1945, at the end of World War II, and was educated at Tulse Hill Comprehensive School, where he presumably was taught history in the same manner as the children of Pakistan are now forced to study a compulsory subject known as Pakistan Studies, guaranteed to keep them fully ignorant of any historical or current facts about their country. After leaving school, Livingstone worked for eight years as a technician at the Chester Beatty Cancer Research Institute in London. He took to politics in 1971, became a member of the Lambeth Council and then of the Camden Council. In between he decided to take up teaching and entered Phillipa Fawcett Teacher Training College, qualifying in 1973, and that same year became a member of the Greater London Council, a body that was later abolished by Margaret Thatcher just to get rid of Livingstone who was then heading it. In the 1987 general election he became Labour MP for Brent East and was re-elected in 1992. At the last general election in 1997, he increased his majority with a 14 per cent swing from the Conservatives. Following a high profile campaign, in September 1997 he was re-elected to Labour's National Executive Committee (of which he had been member in the late 1980s). The rules governing the elections to the NEC were changed in 1997 to prevent Members of Parliament standing in the constituency section. Ken was chucked out of the Labour Party last year for standing against the official candidate for Mayor of London, Frank Dobson, whom he trounced in the election. Affectionately known as Red Ken, Livingstone writes a weekly column every Wednesday for the Independent newspaper, a regular column for the left weekly Tribune, and a regular restaurant column for the London Evening Standard (free meals?). He is a former vice-president of the London Zoological Society, so even if ignorant of history, apart from being a man of the people he is a lover of animals, and hopefully a kind and good human being. Earlier this month, Mayor Livingstone, during Mayor's question time at the London Assembly, remarked on two statues which have stood in Trafalgar Square for over a century, both of generals who served their country with distinction in India. "I think that the people on the plinths in Trafalgar Square in our capital city should be identifiable to the generality of the population. I have not a clue who two of the generals are or what they did." When it was explained to him that One was very good in the Afghan War, Livingstone replied, "Precisely. I imagine that not one person in 10,000 going through Trafalgar Square knows any details about the lives of those two generals. It has been indicated to me that we could move the two generals that no one has ever heard of." One general, Sir Henry Havelock, distinguished himself during the Indian Mutiny of 1857 relieving the British residency at Lucknow. He died soon after of dysentery. With the other general, we here in Sindh, are very familiar - General Sir Charles Napier. Napier was a veteran of the Peninsular War (1808-1812), he fought in the United States in 1813 when it declared war upon England. In 1839, back home, whilst commanding the northern district, he ably handled the dangerous dimensions of the Chartist movement averting a possible bloody revolution in Britain. He was sixtyone-years-old when in 1843 he fought and won the great battles that made Sindh a part of the British Empire - Miani, Dabbo, and the storming of the impregnable fortress of Imambargah, the last according to the Duke of Wellington 'one of the most curious and extraordinary of all military feats.' He was appointed the first governor and commander of the forces in Sindh. Karachi owes Napier much. He saw that a regular supply of water was conveyed to the city from the Malir River, he developed housing and roads, drainage and sanitation facilities, all of which served the city well until Pakistan came into being. He installed a powerful lighthouse at Manora Point, and planned to make Karachi a free port by widening the entrance to the harbour, constructing docks, and connecting the island of Keamari to Karachi. He introduced into Sindh a police system far in advance of any other in India, which became the model for most of what was good in subsequent reforms of the Indian Police. In 1847, his health failing, he tendered his resignation as Governor of Sindh and sailed away home to England where he died in 1853. An obelisk of pink Aberdeen granite was raised in his commemoration that year on the Napier Mole by the people of Karachi. The inscription upon its plinth read : "From this spot on 1st October 1847 was fired the farewell salute to His Excellency Lt General Sir Charles Napier GCB. On his retirement from the Governorship of Sind being the extreme point from which at that date wheel carriage had ever passed along this Bunder, a work planned and executed under the Government of His Excellency and thus far completed at the date of his departure from this province." Let us follow the fate of the obelisk. After partition, a callous chairman of the Karachi Port Trust had it removed and dumped in the municipal graveyard of monuments erected by the Raj. In 1975, Hayat Sherpao, Bhutto's chief minister in the NWFP, was murdered. To commemorate his death, the old Karachi polo ground, then known as the Bagh-i-Jinnah, was renamed Sherpao Gardens and Bhutto ordered that a monument be instantly erected therein to commemorate his murdered minister. His flunkies scrounged around the municipal monument graveyard, found the old ruined and wrecked obelisk, resurrected it, and hastily stood it up in the Sherpao Gardens. The lead filling of the engraved portion was gouged out and an etched brass plaque commemorating Sherpao screwed upon the damaged portion. This plaque was removed in 1978 after Bhutto was deposed and the name Sherpao Gardens consigned to oblivion. The damaged defaced obelisk still stands on the old polo ground, with no plaque, no inscription, only the remains of an undecipherable damaged indentations to mark it. Close to it, in the nameless garden, now stands Nawaz Sharif's monument to the testing of his nuclear bomb and his subsequent downfall - a botched replica made of unrecognizable material representing the radiation-stricken hill at Chaghi. We must hope that no future desecrator of Pakistan renames the garden (which has grown and flourished despite the park commissioners this city has had) after our atomic wizard and dubs it Bagh-i-Abdul Qadeer Khan. Back to London. A descendant of Sir Charles Napier wrote the editor of The Times (London) responding to the news item on Livingstone expressed intentions on the future of the Trafalgar Square statue of his forebear. As to Mr Ken Livingstone's concern that he is not a well-known national character, anyone viewing his statue can at least learn something from the inscription on the plinth : "Erected by Public Subscription, the most numerous subscribers being Private Soldiers." And, as another correspondent put it, "The purpose of a statue is either to remind us, if we have forgotten, or prompt us to inquire, if we do not know, of the deeds considered at the time significant enough to commemorate." As remarked the chairman of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust, removing statues commemorating national heroes is a bizarre and foolish idea, for Trafalgar Square has to be judged in its historical context and the figures represented there are relevant to a particular era and also part of British history. How many statues are on Red Ken's list? Will Nelson still stand safely on his column? DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001103 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Surrealism across a bleak landscape ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayaz Amir THERE is a surreal quality to the economic advice - from the likes of such accredited experts as Mr Moeen Qureshi and Mr Shahid Javed Burki - with which Pakistan's military rulers are being bombarded. Not that the prescriptions being offered are wrong. But their brilliance notwithstanding, they are a bit like wrestling or body-building tips to a sick man on a hospital bed - someone who can't digest any food being told that if he would only jump out of bed at the crack of dawn, take six raw eggs on his empty stomach and go for a six-mile run he should soon be in the ring battling with the best. This government is awash on a sea of simplicities. It lacks an agenda or even a sense of direction. What its competence has been over the last twelve months is now clear even to its most committed votaries. Worse than any economic recession is the mental depression in which the nation is trapped. Pakistan is not starving. It doesn't lack food or other necessities. Yet a pall of gloom hangs over it, attributable directly to the performance we are seeing: a great deal of coming and going related to no definable purpose. As I write these lines, what are the newspaper headlines in front of me? "Cabinet decides to reduce fiscal deficit"... "Corruption in PIA, CAA to end soon"... "Musharraf orders speedy privatization". Bracing stuff. Surely in the spin factories of the government someone has a great sense of humour. What do the times require and what is the government delivering? "Cabinet decides to reduce fiscal deficit". The people of Pakistan should surely take heart from this rousing piece of news. Buffeted by bad leadership, the people of Pakistan held fast to one last illusion: that the military was the last line of national defence. As the mess of government worsens only the battered wreck of this illusion remains. This may be the most vivid symbol of the failure of leadership we are seeing: the last holy cow laid to rest. "Cabinet decides to reduce fiscal deficit": this is the Pakistani version of evoking the spirit of Dunkirk. There was a time when the initials ISI inspired a sense of awe and dread. A corps commanders' conference was akin to an assembly of the minor gods. Alas, no more. The mystique that not long ago had the nation in its thrall is lost, perhaps irrevocably. Familiarity plus muddled performance have bred indifference. (The word contempt I dare not use.) More than the necessity of reviving the economy, or reducing the fiscal deficit, Pakistan needs to manufacture a fresh set of illusions. For stripped of illusions, as Pakistan presently is, a country is naked. Anyhow, this latest devaluation is true to type. We seem to have perfected the ability of devaluing the things we touch. Take our nuclear capacity. Between Dr A. Q. Khan's relentless public posturing and the monuments raised to Chaghi all over the country it has been turned into an object of fun. Except in a negative sense, who is impressed by it? We ourselves of course, but who else? Accountability, democracy, even Islamization: all concepts devalued at our hands. As if all this was not enough, we have now succeeded in nailing the last illusion to the mast. Pakistan's problem is not 'what is to be done'? By and large we know the answer to this: wise government, the rule of law, administrative reform, institution-building, political stability and then, in the climate so engendered, long-term steps for debt retirement and economic growth. I have rattled off these cliches without consulting Adam Smith or Alan Greenspan. The litany of these great ideas is familiar and on the lips of every half-baked prophet of national reform and revival. The problem is 'who is to do the doing'? Who is to eat the raw eggs and run the six-mile run in order to be fit for the ring? But first let us at least straighten out the tangled strings of national logic. A mule cannot produce offspring, not in a thousand years. A cockerel cannot lay eggs, not even with genetic engineering. The military is no solution to Pakistan's disease of the spirit (for it is a disease of the spirit before anything else), never was, never will be. The Pakistan army will readily hurl itself into battle should the necessity so arise. It can stop the enemy at the gates. Its young officers and men can compare with the best anywhere else. All this it can do ably and more. But exercising national leadership is a different thing. The army could not do this in better times. How can it perform this task in a rougher climate with the country's problems infinitely more intractable and complicated? Another thing to get straight. A country has to put its political house in order before it can arrive at the frontiers of economic success. The cart cannot be put before the horse. If we fail to solve our political muddle, if we fail to discover the holy grail of political stability, we are doomed to go around in circles, forever ambitious, forever thwarted in our endeavours. It is a strange national psyche which thinks that the problems facing Pakistan can be tackled in isolation from each other. Afghanistan, the presence of Afghan refugees on Pakistani soil, the fighting in Kashmir, the strident calls for jihad, the plastic shoppers clogging our drains and water channels, the huge open-air garbage dump outside Islamabad on the Kashmir Highway, the endemic corruption of everyday life in Pakistan, the traffic muddle on our roads, the untidiness of our airports, the unruliness to be witnessed whenever a major sporting event takes place: all these are inter-connected issues in that they portray a society at war with itself, a society unable to come to grips with either simple problems or complicated ones. If the genius of Pakistan cannot overcome the challenge of the plastic shopper, if the capital of Pakistan (the reputed Beautiful City) does not know how to dispose of its garbage, how on earth do we expect our country to reach for the stars? In wars big or small, the principles of war remain the same. In managing large or small organizations, the principles of management remain the same. A leadership or a governing class which cannot master small problems, is unlikely to get the better of bigger ones. A national aesthetic helpless before the onslaught of the plastic shopper is unlikely to be hit by the absurdity of bankrupt means being put to the service of grandiose ends. But all this is to state the obvious. If military rule is no answer to anything, where do we go from here? Lectures alone will not loosen the grip of military rule and the military on its own is unlikely to see the light and relinquish political power. What are we then in for? The signs are not propitious: an extended stalemate, the reinforcing of failure, doggedness turning to obstinacy, the nation's spirit exposed to the wind and the elements. Bleak winters, more lost years: in all, a depressing prospect. Yet in this country fools abound who say we should sing of positive things. As if the mere singing, the mere rearranging of dismal news, will alter the balance of reality. Of course we are not a meltdown state. Of course we are not headed the way of Gorbachev's Russia. Or, worse, the death and destruction of Afghanistan. We have resilience and talent. We grow our own food (or at least have begun to). If for fifty years we have survived incompetent and corrupt government, there is something to be said for our powers of endurance. But the question remains. Why cannot we put our affairs in order? For this, no miracles are required, only a measure of sound and honest government. Once we have this the economic pundits can take over. But if even this bare minimum eludes us then it is time to call in the astrologers and soothsayers. What have we done, what sins committed, to so earn the implacable wrath of the heavens? DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001104 ------------------------------------------------------------------- A discourse of the deaf ------------------------------------------------------------------- Irfan Husain OF late, there has been much discussion of the Two-Nation Theory in the national press. Politicians, especially those from the three smaller provinces, have made critical noises about this principle that was the basis for the partition of India. Basically, the theory postulated that the Hindus and Muslims of the subcontinent constituted two distinct nations and therefore needed separate states to pursue their respective destinies. The problem with this vision was that it treated the people of South Asia as two homogeneous groups of Hindus and Muslims, making no allowances for the vast cultural, ethnic and linguistic differences that contribute to the colourful and vibrant mosaic that is the subcontinent. This theory sought to bind a Muslim in Dhaka with one in Dharampura, and a Hindu in Sukkur with one in Simla. The reality was very different. A Muslim Bengali had far more in common with a Hindu from Calcutta than a Punjabi Muslim, while a Pushtun from Durra is much closer culturally and ethnically to his cousin in Jalalabad in Afghanistan than he is to a Muslim in Chittagong. These very real differences were glossed over by the over- simplifications on which the Two-National Theory is based. And although millions of Muslims and Hindus migrated in both directions in 1947, millions of others chose to stay where they were. The fact that even after partition, India continued to have a significant Muslim population weakened the principle on which Pakistan had been created. This questionable premise was further eroded by the separation of East Pakistan in 1971. We now have three states in the subcontinent, each with roughly 150 million Muslims. Detractors of the Two-Nation Theory point out that had India not been partitioned, there would have been around 450 million Muslims living there. Such a large population can hardly be termed a persecuted minority. However, these are the ifs and buts of history. The bottom line is that for good or bad, right or wrong, Pakistan came into being over half a century ago, and need no longer justify its existence to India, the rest of the world or to its own citizens. Over a period of time, a state acquires legitimacy and a certain momentum just by virtue of its existence. It does not have to explain time and again why it was created. Unfortunately, our leaders and self-appointed ideologues have consistently taken upon themselves the impossible and exceedingly boring task of defending a defunct theory. To do so, they have gone through bizarre and tortuous intellectual contortions that might have been amusing were it not for the strains they have placed on the fabric of the Pakistani state. First and foremost, the defenders of the so-called ideology of Pakistan have tried to establish the geographically untenable position that we are part of the Mid-East and not South Asia. To sustain this fiction, they have done their wicked worst to purge our culture of subcontinental influences. Thus, classical dancing is under a virtual official ban while theatre and music exist on sufferance. Students are taught Arabic (badly) at an early age and indoctrinated to despise everything India. The other fiction that underpins this official doctrine is that history began for Pakistan when Mohammad Bin Qasim landed on our shores and conquered and converted much of Sindh. The flowering of the Gandhara civilization and the magnificent earlier achievements of the Indus Valley civilization are largely glossed over except in the tawdry publications we produce for the benefit of the few foreign tourists who venture here. Unfortunately, many of these attitudes are mirrored across the border in India. These contortions have resulted in a major identity crisis that has robbed at least two generations of their creativity: by cutting them off from their real roots, our ideologues have produced a nation that is unsure of its position in the region and the world. One reason why we are so full of doom and gloom is that we are constantly subjected to long-winded and fatuous explanations about why Pakistan came into being. It is almost as if we were being constantly asked to prove our legitimacy at every step. Instead of getting on with life, much of our energy and vitality have been dissipated in this sterile and pointless debate: after all these years, what does it matter why Pakistan was created? What matters is that it was created, and we need to stop justifying its creation. Scores of nation-states have come into being after 1947, and most of them do not feel the compulsion to defend their existence. The world is not asking us to produce a certificate of legitimacy; it only wants us to join the rest of the human race and accept reality as it is. Another distortion the Two-Nation Theory has produced is the compulsion to define ourselves in terms of India: we have tried to show how different we are from our neighbour at every turn. Inevitably, an Indian misfortune is seen as our good fortune, and every Indian gain as our loss. This zero-sum game is a debilitating exercise and has resulted in tunnel vision in which our large neighbour has become our only horizon. Our internal and external policies are largely aimed at somehow countering real and perceived Indian threats and hegemonic designs.Any theory that seeks to promote separateness denies our humanity and the ability of civilized people to live together despite differences in colour, caste or creed. As somebody said recently, "First we Muslims said we could not live with Hindus and created Pakistan; then we said we could no longer live with Bengalis, and Bangladesh was the result. Now Sunnis are saying they cannot live with Shias. Where will it all stop?" Where indeed? There is considerable evidence to suggest that the demand for Pakistan was a bargaining position initially adopted by the Muslim League. Ultimately, it was Congress obduracy more than Muslim League insistence that resulted in the creation of Pakistan. Whatever the reality, it is certain that the bloodletting that accompanied partition shook the founder of the new state and probably caused the decades of suspicion and rancour that have marked Indo-Pakistani relations ever since. There has been a demand to try Altaf Hussain of the MQM for criticizing the creation of Pakistan. This is the knee-jerk reaction of our ideologues who have already inflicted so much damage in the past. It would be far better to debate these issues openly, and if that is the consensus, lay to rest the Two-Nation Theory. We no longer need defunct theories to justify the creation and existence of Pakistan.
=================================================================== SPORTS 001101 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Match-fixing: CE to handle the matter, says Tarar ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: President Rafiq Tarar has said that the appointment of judge for the inquiry into match-fixing of 1999 World Cup matches and umpire Javed Akhtar, as requested by the chairman Pakistan Cricket Board, falls within the purview of the government. Talking to Dawn at the closing ceremony of the President of Pakistan Cup Golf Tournament at Rawalpindi Golf Club, the President who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB, further said that he has already written to the Chief Executive to handle the matter as he pleases. President's press secretary intervened when it was being asked to comment on the policy of the cricket board which on one hand is holding inquiries against the cricketers allegedly involved in wrong-doing but on the other is awarding them medals. Sports best means to promote peace: President Rafiq Tarar has said that in the present times sports are the best means to promote peace and understanding among countries. The president was speaking at a reception hosted in the honour of cricket teams of visiting England and Pakistan at the presidency on Tuesday. The president met all members of the two teams individually. President Tarar said that cricket was a popular sport and a vast majority of people of both England and Pakistan take great interest in it. He appreciated both teams over the standard of game displayed during the one-day series and congratulated Pakistan team on winning it. The president also hoped that the forthcoming three-match Test series will be played in a healthy atmosphere, bringing forth the best from both teams. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 001031 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan defeat England by 6 wkts; Win one-day series ------------------------------------------------------------------- Samiul Hasan RAWALPINDI, Oct 30: Spin wizard Saqlain Mushtaq bowled Pakistan to their first one-day series victory over England in 26 years when they won the third and final one-dayer six wickets at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here on Monday. Saqlain captured five for 20. This was the sixth time that he achieved the feat, as England were spun out for a paltry 158 in 42.5 overs. In their target chase, Pakistan top order almost made a mess of things when the three top order batsmen returned at the score of 51. But Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana held the innings together before Abdur Razzaq finished the match in 43.3 overs with a little cavalier nine-ball 17 with four boundaries. Inzamam hit an elegant but punishing 60 while Youhana nudged and pushed the ball before losing his off stump to Craig White with 31 still needed. The two featured in a 77-run third wicket partnership. England paceman Andrew Caddick picked up Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi on the last ball of his first over and first ball of the second over respectively to be on a split hat trick which was thwarted by Inzamam. Later Ashley Giles accounted for Salim Elahi to give an intriguing turn to what looked like a calkwalk victory for Pakistan. But the two most experienced Pakistan batsmen batted professionally, responsibly and defiantly to shatter the Englishmen's dreams. While Pakistan, for the second successive match, exposed England's vulnerability against quality spin bowling, the tourists also had something to gain from the third match. The three inexperienced but promising Pakistan stroke-makers struggled against a fired-up England bowling led by Caddick on a placid track. Imran, playing for a sick Saeed Anwar, was caught in the second slip and Shahid Afridi was beaten by the swing to be caught by Nasser Hussain at point. Both failed to show any resilience against controlled swing bowling from the visitors. Salim, an in-form batsmen, could have easily been third victim to England pacers had Graeme Hick held on to a regulation catch off Darren Gough with Pakistan reeling at 20 for two. >From then on, Inzamam and Youhana took control of the proceedings with some excellent but at times risky strokes. Youhana was cool and calculated by rotating the strike, Inzamam batted by mixing caution with aggression with some fluent carpet drives that yielded seven boundaries. England fielding also let them down when they failed to convert three half chances and also missed the sticks thrice to run out the batsmen. Inzamam was dropped by Ashley Giles off White when 50. Abdur Razzaq also had a memorable day when he became the 12th Pakistani to capture 100 wickets while pushing back the off stump of Mark Ealham. Razzaq's 99th victim was Alec Stewart who was caught behind the wickets. England were in dire straits when they slumped to 86 for six after Moin Khan won the third successive toss and put England into bat. But Graham Thorpe and Ealham (23) saved England from complete embarrassment by adding 47 for the seventh wicket. Thorpe was the last man out after scoring 39 while Trecothick scored 36. However, the poor leg before decision by Mian Aslam against England captain Nasser Hussain took the gloss off a comprehensive Pakistan victory. Wasim Akram's delivery had pitched nearly six inches outside the leg stump but Aslam, who is in the ICC panel, raised his fingers towards heaven to stun the England captain as well as experts of the game. In Karachi, Riazuddin had given a shocking decision against Alec Stewart off Akram. Both are in the ICC panel. ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to DWS by sending an email to <subscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following text in the BODY of your message: subscribe dws To unsubscribe, send an email to <unsubscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following in the BODY of you message: unsubscribe dws ------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the top.
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